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Kia Optima Hybrid Review

Kia Optima Hybrid Review

Two weeks ago, two men went to our place and dropped off a white Kia Optima Hybrid, which looked like a sports car to me. And I quickly fell in love with its awesomeness!

I always hear about hybrid cars on TV. I pretty much know how different it is from regular cars and it isn’t really a big deal for me cause I feel like I’m already used to the regular type of car. There’s no need for me to go checking out hybrid cars, right? But my experience of actually being able to drive it was so amazing that it made me want to have one.

When the gentleman that dropped the Kia Optima Hybrid off at my place handed me the keys, he told me to remember that just because I couldn’t hear the car’s engine doesn’t mean it’s off. And with that he started telling me about the features of the car while I slowly drove the car around our apartment complex so I can get a feel of it. It ran so smoothly and was very quiet. I was told that the car wasn’t using gas.

Here’s a photo of the front dashboard of the Kia Optima Hybrid while my hubby was driving it.

The Kia Optima Hybrid has lots of controls so you can set it in a way that’s most comfortable and convenient for you.

There are 2 air conditioning controls so you can have different settings for the driver’s side and the passenger’s side. There are also 2 buttons (not in photo) beside the gear handle that allows you to set the temperature for the driver’s seat and the passenger seat. This feature will definitely come in handy during the winter months when it’s too cold and you need a warm seat to make you more comfortable.

The part that’s blocked by my hubby’s hand is where the input jacks are. You can connect using AUX or USB and I loved the fact that when we connect our iPod Touch using the USB cable, the screen shows us our song list so we didn’t need to operate from the iPod itself. It also charges the iPod so that’s another plus!

Here’s a photo of the back and front rows with my son’s new car seat installed.

As I mentioned when I did a review on the Kia Sorento, any car that’s bigger than our small Versa car is something I consider spacious. I love that whenever I decide to sit beside my son, I won’t need to squeeze myself in.

I had enough space to move whenever I need to fix or prepare something for my son, like when we went to Gilroy Gardens to celebrate my birthday. Since it was about an hour’s drive from San Jose, my son got anxious and uncomfortable because he doesn’t like long drives (but I guess that goes for most kids).

So I need to make sure that I can easily reach for and give him his snacks, drinks and toys. And since the front row has controls for moving the seats and the backrests forward, backward, and up and down, I just easily moved the front passenger seat forward so I can have more space for my son’s stuff.

The photos above show that even the back row of the Kia Optima Hybrid has controls for temperature so you don’t need to suffer if it’s too hot and the people in front decide to hog all the A/C. And as you can see in the photo on the right (though it may not be clear), you can also set your seat to go warm if you want to.

And one of the highlights of the Kia Optima Hybrid car (my son’s favorite feature I should say) is the sun roof.

The day this car was dropped off at our place was the day my hubby bought my son a new front-facing car seat so he’s not yet used to seeing so many things while in the car. We would see his face light up every time we open up the sun roof. Here is my little one enjoying some “exciting” sun roof time when we got home one evening.

I think it’s important for me to mention that for the whole week that we were using the car, we not even once needed to go fill up at a gas station. Granted, we only had to drive to the office, the church and Gilroy Gardens. But then, that’s really just where we normally go anyway. Hubby says if we just used it to go to work, the tank would probably just need to be filled after 3 weeks.

All in all, my experience in driving and riding the Kia Optima Hybrid was amazing and awesome.

I love that it has so many features that makes the experience great for whoever drives it. The base price for a 2012 Kia Optima Hybrid is at $25,700 and you can opt for additional features based on your need. The specific Optima Hybrid that we drove for a week had all the additional features so it costs about $35,000. Check out Kia.com to see the full list of features.

*I received a 2012 Kia Optima Hybrid for one week to facilitate this review. No compensation was received for this post. All opinions are my own. All photos except the first one are mine. See my Disclosure Policy.

Kia has really come a long way. I remember when Kia vehicles first came out, they were boring and unreliable. Now, their vehicles are elegantly styled and earn high marks in reliability. I’d definitely consider a Kia Optima next time I’m in the market for a new car. Thanks for the review.

I love how this car looks on the outside! It does look like a sports car. I have never driven a hybrid, but I hope that our next vehicle will be a hybrid. I love how you can control the temperature where ever you are sitting. I also love that you can connect your ipod and use the car to listen to it and it is being charged while it is connected. Thank you for the great review!

my husband talks about these all the time. From your pictures and review it makes us want one that much more. I know you hated giving it up after a week. It’s a shame they wouldn’t let you keep it or at least buy it at a discount since it was now a used car lol

I love this. I have been looking at vehicles everytime we are out and about and I keep looking at the Kia brand. I like the way they look and was thinking we needed to test drive one.Lisa Williams recently posted..Facebook: The Social Nanny Network

Thank you for this review. It is very imformative and helped open my eyes to choosing a hybrid next time. This car looks very. I am not in the market yet for a new car but I will hold onto this knowledge. I wouldn’t mind a couple of men dropping by my place with a Kia Optima Hybrid. 🙂

I”m looking for a car that has better gas mileage. I spend a lot of money on gas because of my business. It cost me $275 to $300 a month in gas. Thanks for the review, I’m weighing my option on a lot of different models.Sheila Simmons recently posted..McDonald’s Isn’t The Devil, Maybe It’s You.

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Hi! I'm Alice and this is my blog! Check out my posts and hang out with me here on your spare time. I have lots of product reviews, giveaways, and stuff on pretty much anything I'm passionate about -- tech, entertainment, travel, and a lot more! Be sure to drop me a line in the comments section on any post! :) [Read more]